Getting the News

Why are conspiracy theories and rumors so prominently used and believed in many Middle Eastern countries?

This is my theory, and it has to do with the governments in the region, most are oppressive regimes which control most or all forms of the media in their countries. These governments tend to filter or fabricate the information that reaches the population and have done so for many years. Most people in turn have had the wool pulled over their eyes one too many times and tend not to believe all that their government controlled media outlets tell them.

This has lead to a lot of people getting their news by word of mouth, from third person accounts, a guy who know a guy, who heard about it from somebody down the road. It then turned into a cultural phenomenon where people depended on each other for their daily news. We all know how stories get bent out of sharp as they pass from person to person, this explains some of the wilder theories and folklore to come out of the region in past years.

Many generations of Middle Easterners have been raised like this, but with today's new technologies, many people are being exposed to more and more open media sources, because its so much harder now a days to control the types of things your population sees and hears. Governments will find it harder and harder to keep their more knowledgeable populations under control and their anger directed else where.

I hope this trend continues, the people of the Middle East will learn the truth about their corrupt and oppressive governments and also that the West is not the enemy that we are made out to be. The movement towards a free and just society in the region will progress into an unstoppable movement and this will be beneficial to all.